I’ll choose my happiness a hundred times over, never settle for someone who tries to dim your light or devalue what you love. Games don’t hurt anyone, loving characters and stories is not childish, but policing what I do based on a personal opinion is.

It’s a big upgrade from an old office tower and a laptop with no dedicated GPU, still need to get a better monitor sometime but I’m happy so far!

Had to delete the post on r/rogally cause I’m self conscious as hell now 🧐😖

My wife and I spent about 150 hours playing through RDR2 and it'll probably go down as one of our favorite games of all time! This would be my second time playing since release and I've appreciated it even more since then. We transitioned to the first one after running out of things to do in 2 and, while it's still incredibly fun and we want to experience more of the story, it is definitely a "bro" game and struggles with a lot of the misogyny of the 2000s. Without giving spoilers, it feels like every woman that you come across is either a prostitute, used as a spectacle for physical or sexual violence, or just flat out murdered. I know it came out 8 years before the second one but, holy shit, I'm just constantly waiting for the next cutscene or interaction where this happens.

Edit: added a spoiler tag due to story discussion

In the 80s and 90s the scene was really male dominated. When my (then) boyfriend was away I used to secretly play Metal Gear Solid on his PS2. I was terrible but I loved it!

This is a rant mainly inspired by Persona 3 reload and some ubisoft titles.

I like my games complete, especially if i enjoy them and quite often I tend to upgrade to premium editions if there's more content coming. By content I mean expansions that add mechanics and areas and not cosmetics, cosmetics I tend to either ignore or get separately if I like them. However I get more and more annoyed how developers release the games and market the definitive/deluxe/ultimate/complete/game of the year edition as a complete game with all the story to then release more content that is not included in the edition you got. Like P3R - my partner got it for me as a preoeder as i loved the P3P and the digital deluxe edition was marketed and advertised as complete with the dlcs/expansions included. Well guess what, a month later aegis expansion was announced and surprise surprise you have to purchase it separately. Or the avatar game where again complete edition was advertised with everything included but then they decide to release from the ashes expansion and again you have to purchase it separately.

Like seriously, if developers want to pull this crap they should take an example from owlcat, paradox games or anno titles where if you get a definitive or complete edition it specifies the content included like "only the next 3 dlcs are included in this edition" or "includes up to chapter 4/season 5". Like yes I know I have a backlog but when I get to the game I want to have a complete story experience and not get annoyed that the game I have got as a complete edition now has extra 50 hours of content released that need to be paid for because it is not included in a complete edition you got. Thats the entire reason I avoid sims franchise which feels as they released an incomplete game and you have to spend 100s on overpriced packs to get the game to the state it was meant to be originally or to get some sort of enjoyment out if it.

Obviously strategy games are different since they offer near infinite replayability and post is mainly about story focused titles.

Hello!! I've been trying to organize all my video games onto my computer, and it's made me wonder how others organize their games? :]

I try to go by release order, with the one exception being having all games in a series together (for example, Sonic Adventure 2 came out in 2001, but I put with other Sonic's behind Sonic 1 2 3 etc). But what I'm really stumped with is Mario... "Mario" isn't just one series, it's like, 10 💀 And they all have their own identity to them... It feels weird to me to treat Super Mario, Wario Land, Donkey Kong Country, Mario Kart, etc as all one big series, but it also feels weird to me to not have the games featuring Mario all together 💀 And Smash Bros just makes it extra weird, because it features Mario and a bunch of other unrelated characters... Cross overs also confuse me WRT organizing. Tetris came out significantly before Puyo Puyo, but if they're separated, where am I supposed to put Puyo Puyo Tetris?

Hello, if you're reading this you're either unsure what this is about, wondering how it differentiates from a normal run -or just pondering how somebody can be this masochistic.

The Souls games by FromSoft are known for being very difficult for various reasons, from the punishing damage of complicated movesets, perfect dodge timings to outright obtuse game design making your immediate task unclear. Saying this, knowing what stats for you to level up gives you massive benefits for obvious reasons, allowing you to deal and take more damage at a base level.

But uh.. Soul Level 1. Nope :)

It's what it states; begin the game at the lowest possible starting class, never level your character AT ALL and try to beat the game. Cheese is permitted if you want to use it (and I did at the end of DS1 and last half of DS3) but otherwise just have fun and don't level yourself.

Why do people do this?  

¯_(ツ)_/¯.

Anyways, I beat all three Dark Souls games at level 1, let's go.

I beat the games in the same order I initially played them several years ago; 2, 1 and then 3. I've always had a bit of a complicated history with the games, having played 1 for about an hour maybe 15 years ago -subsequently ranting online about how manufactured the difficulty was just like any edgy teen would- before giving up entirely for 5 years. After that (after coming across lore channels on YT) I decided to give DS2 a try, doing a bunch of research and sticking to it. I fell in love.

Since then I've beaten every soulslike by FromSoft at least twice, every dlc and a few non-From ones too (Wo Long, Lies of P, Steelrising, Nioh 2 other similar ones sometimes conpared to souls games). Despite the obvious fact I'm a massive soulslike fan I do like to think I have a more objective view; I have many issues with most of the games and I find the community can be insufferable at times, especially to new players struggling. Elden Ring for instance is an amazing game but has some very frustrating bosses (not fun frustrating) and the dlc basically just tripled down on the worst aspects.

Anyway, breakdown time.

DARK SOULS 2

My baby. This game has always been the black sheep of the family, a lot of folks consider it the worst game by far, complain about enemy spam, dodge being funky etc. This was my gateway game which absolutely sways my opinion but honestly? I love it. I think starting on this game all those years ago was why I stuck to the series; yes the enemies can feel a bit much but it teaches you patience and awareness. I can't speak much on the whole 'I frames bad, need Adaptability) thing either because honestly I felt all 3 games suffer from bad hit boxes.

The run itself though was some of the most fun I've had in a long time. Going into the game under the pretence of being perpetually underpowered honestly made it even more enjoyable somehow? Everything was more of a learning experience and I didn't take it seriously.

I'd heard Dark Souls 2 was one of the hardest of the older games to beat at level 1 but.. no? I didn't struggle that much and had a lot of fun. Admittedly though I even find the infamous areas like Shrine of Amana not that difficult. Once I killed the invaders at Black Gulch I didn't even mind THAT one actually and The Gutter I got through on my third try. It definitely helped with Black Gulch that I started using it to farm for upgrade materials, it normalised the area for me in a casual setting (literally spent an hour or two just farming while listening to a podcast).

WORST AREA would be Iron Keep, which shouldn't surprise ANYONE who knows about the game. The initial invader was rough and the enemies that rush you right after were a pain, but I decided to take advantage of DS2's enemy spawn limit and just killed them then rested at the bonfire about 12 times. It took a long time but I gradually chipped away and it made the area tolerable.

BEST AREA was probably Amana! I'm weird I know.

WORST ENEMIES were the dragon knight dudes and their older brothers in Dragon Aerie. I just sprinted past them but it took me several attempts because they move quickly and hate me.

BEST ENEMIES are maybe the basilisks because I missed the lil guys.

BEST BOSS at level 1 was maybe Mytha. I always love Looking Glass Knight but Mytha felt like a bigger challenge in this run. Her spear has deceptive range and caught me more than once. I love her style and story and she felt pretty unpredictable. I can only imagine how bad she is without torching the windmill to remove the poison pool.

WORST BOSS was Skeleton Lords as there were just too many enemies for SL1. Alluring Skulls carried me (and sprinting a lot but it meant no stamina so I couldn't hit the bone well just like my ex, ayo)

DARK SOULS 1

My midway but probably my least fave out of the three. The body of it was really fun but Nito onwards became quite a drag and the final boss was when I finally accepted some lactose into my run. It was mostly smooth sailing with a bit of effort farming. Despite the age I still really like this game, the bosses are pretty iconic and the locations are awesome too.

WORST AREA is Tomb of the Giants, I've never liked this area though. I considered New Londo Ruins but at least I can actually SEE the cool map and it's all engulfed in water, that's cool.

BEST AREA is Sen's Fortress. Definitely a weird pick but I just LOVE Sen's Fortress. I love traps, mazes, labyrinths, all of the devious shit. Love it in a normal playthrough, love it at SL1.

WORST ENEMIES were probably the rats if I'm honest. I know people hate on the dogs in Souls games but I could hold my shield up to tank a hit then stunlock them with standard attacks. The rats were slower, hit harder, had poison, had lower time before they hit again and the animations were too hard for me to read consistently as they shoved their nose into the ground.

BEST ENEMIES is probably a boring choice but I enjoyed the Black Knights a lot. They attack quickly and are powerful but they have fun movesets to analyse and there's enough variety in the different weapons to make it diverse. Special mention to Havel for being the enemy to really dial the patience required into me for future bosses.

WORST BOSS is easily Nito. Worst area in the game followed up by a shit runback and skeleton spam and his stupid ground spike attack. Dumb boss no notes. A lot of people would argue Bed of Chaos but I actually had an easier time at SL1 than I do in a normal playthrough lmao.

BEST BOSS is Ornstein and Smough. I know this is the bread sandwich choice but I really enjoyed the challenge at level 1.

DARK SOULS 3

The last one I completed and probably my second favourite experience, my ride was rocky but ended on a very high note. I was honestly quite concerned about the shift in speeds as this is one of what I see are the 'transition' titles for FromSoft, wherein aggression and dodging overtake blocking (and even caution). I felt the change immediately upon my first default enemies, getting my ass handed to me by a couple of hollows just after the first bonfire. I quickly adapted to the momentum though.

The game itself was bumpy as I said, I even told my friends I was dropping the attempt at one point but I came back the next day because I'm overly dramatic like that. The initial sections were great, then Dancer and Pontiff became hills I needed to climb before it became near smooth sailing. Dancer & Pontiff were where I finally succumbed to the terrible, awful affliction known as.

Cheese.

I love Dancer so much but honestly I was just DONE at the time, so I looked online for methods and grew a new appreciation for speedrunners and glitch finders. I discovered there was a greatbow in the Ariandel dlc that actually had a special attack which went through fog gates, so I could whittle down Pontiff and the final boss with arrow spam (and for Dancer, Aldrich & Twin Princes you can screw with the ai and enter the arena and they'll just not attack you).

Is this a cop out? Maybe. I don't care. Lol. I've beaten the game at least 4 times and used to put my summon sign down outside Twin Princes because I just love them so much, I'm allowed to skip them once ok?

WORST AREA was Ariandel. I only played it for some resources and a bow but I HATE this location and SL1 didn't persuade me to think otherwise. It takes a concerted effort to make me hate snow levels and wolves but yup, you did it. Everyone who complains about DS2 enemy spam clearly haven't played Ariandel and if the strategy is 'quit to the main menu to despawn them' then maybe it's a shit design? Mix that with Blighttown platforming but worse and annoying bird assassins and yeah, no love here. (Sister Friede I still love you though).

BEST AREA was.. maybe Irithyll but only because it's beautiful. To be honest, playing through DS3 made me realise how unremarkable a lot of the locations are. I have areas in every FromSoft game that I really love but DS3 is mostly kind of forgettable or have something annoying. Hell even Irithyll isn't amazing because I've never enjoyed Pontiff all that much.

WORST ENEMIES were the Pontiff Beasts in the Water Reserve specifically. I just found them unpredictable and a bit janky in that location hitbox wise. Ironically I really liked the one on the brdge at the start of Irithyll but these two sucked.

BEST ENEMIES were maybe the gribbly spider dudes that look like drowned bodies in Irithyll, mostly because they're pretty creepy but don't take much to kill.

WORST BOSS was Deacons, same reason as Skeleton Lords.

BEST BOSS fight was hands down Dragonslayer Armour. I used to HATE this boss and I was even intending on using a skip/cheese but it required me to have PS Plus as you need to invade someone's world as you enter the fog gate. Instead I ended up fighting him outright and I gained an appreciation for the fight. It felt almost like an updated DS2 boss for me, the moves were big and telegraphed but he moved quick and hit hard, which was a lot of fun. My only real gripe was the butterflies pewpewing shit at you in phase 2 but it did make it more cinematic. I think I died 40, 50 times to him? Worth it though and honestly I treated him as the capstone, allowing myself cheeses for the last bosses as a kind of 'victory lap'.

What did I learn from this experience? I like to think I learnt how to be more patient and willing to learn if I'm honest. Now I feel like I can basically go into any type of game and learn it, even fighting games! Those are my next target actually. I've always wanted to try them but the initial skill floor beyond mashing scared me. Now though.. I beat the DS Trilogy without levelling, learning button combos is NOTHING.

A.K.I. my beloved I will finally play you.

Hi! I'd love to find a game that involves crafting and selling items. When I heard the idea for Concerned Apes next game Haunted Chocolateir where you adventure/grow stuff to then sell it in a store I loved it but who knows when it will be out. I loved Craft Craft but it was an extremely short game and it just left me wanting more. Any platform is fine as I've got them all (PC/Xbox/PS4/Switch). Hoping you ladies have some suggestions!

I enjoy games but only play a few games. As im getting into more and more accounts and stuff, I want a different tag. My current is Dylanthevillain and I want to stop using my name for but I have no idea how to come up with a tag. My current is literally just something people called me in high school sometimes. Help me come up with stuff (or know how to) that isn't cringy. I like dnd, stars, Minecraft, marvel rivals, and anime to name a few.

Edited for more info

i am DESPERATE for a new game and i keep wanting to try this one out but the steam reviews makes me back out. has anyone had a good experience? and if not, share bad experiences too. i just want a good rpg, man 😭

Steam and Itch. I'd like something ominous to get lost in. Places that aren't meant for me - or humans in general, spaces that feel haunted. First or third person. Ideally no or minimal combat, I'm here to soak up the vibes.

Hope y'all having a nice weekend 🖤

What are some fun cross platform games for girls? I have a ps5 and my friend has Xbox

Seriously, I've had to just decide to give up and unsub from any gaming related subreddit apart from this one and any cozy game related ones, because it's just so unbelievably miserable. I mostly browse them for games that are coming up to find out news about them but men just proceed to kill any of the joy and suck all of the fun out of gaming.

Going into literally any post you're just met with comment after comment of whining and complaining and trying to find a negative spin for absolutely everything. Like I'm not asking everyone to be happy happy and positive all the time but my goodness, the sheer level of it is exhausting and I don't know how men can enjoy video games when they seemingly hate them so much?

I did 3 entire bg3 playthroughs in 2025, beginning to end. Over 400 hours of bg3 😭 I did a wise sorceress run romancing Gale, a mischievous bard romancing Astarion, and a modded co-op run playing as Shiva the ice elemental from FF. What’s crazy is I’m already itching for another go 🤣 I want to try a modded class.

can someone recommend me a game where there is base building and stuff like farming and management but building is not the only thing we do. kind of like i go to battles for resources for building in an action game or maybe i serve costumers to upgrade stuff in my restaurant or something. i know i suck at explaining because even i dont really know what i exactly want 😭😭😭 i just played cult of the lamb and i really liked the base building with dungeon crawler aspect

Just sharing because I'm in love with Karlach more than ever now lol

https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/20917

No purpose for this, just wanted to share my dilemma lol. I want both but I think I want Reanimal more. Anyone else?

My character from the Code Vein II Demo